Littlest Christmas Tree

Star of Wonder

Natural Outlines

Fall Slowly Fading

Out on a Limb

Snow Covered Pines

These are the pine trees in my neighbor's back yard. This image is from the first real snowfall that we had this winter. I will be setting up some auto posts for everyone's viewing pleasure. I will check in as often as I can. I have most everyone's blogs in my google reader, last I checked I had over 600 entries to read. And yes I will read them and comment on many of them. I can't just delete them and start over. I like to know what is going on in everyone else's world and enjoy learning more about my blogging community friends.

An early Merry Christmas

I just wanted to say thank you to my fellow readers. The past little bit has been driving me crazy. I hope to have my internet at home back up and running. I found out that my wireless card in my laptop is also cap put, so the idea of going somewhere with wireless is a no go as well at the moment. I hope to have internet back at home in the next few days, we'll see how things go. In the mean time, when I have the opportunity to attach my laptop to the internet somewhere else I will try. I just have to get everything in order so that I can be efficient with my time. If I don't get back on before then Merry Christmas everyone.

Sunburst in the Snow

I finally made it out the other day to take some pictures of the snow. Actually, I had to take my husband to work on Sunday and had time to kill before Sunday School started. I took a little detour and drove the little drive at For-Mar Nature Preserve. I drive by here every trip I make to church and finally had enough time to drive in and get a few shots of the snow. I was so excited over the last few pictures. I have never been able to get this look without the use of a filter. However this day was different. I love the star burst effect that the trees created with the sun. I wish that I would have been able to get out of the car but with two little ones en tow, this was not possible besides they were both sound asleep in their seats. I also wish that I would have seen some critters, while I did see a few birds they were not in good photo taking position, I had hoped to see some deer as I typically do when driving by here but alas the day that I am able to go in and take some images they are no where in sight. Really, how do they know this? I never seem to have luck with photographing deer except on rare occasions.

Rose 4

Rose 3

Rose 2

Rose 1

I'm back sort of. I have some images to share over the next few days of my granny's roses. I took these images just over a month ago and have played around with them a bit to come up with something that I like. My plan is to frame each image and hang them together in a grouping for her.

Things around here are pretty crazy as they typically are at the holidays. My posts will be a bit sporadic over the next month, then hopefully after Christmas things will slow down and I can get back into a better routine. I have been out trying to shoot some new things and I am hoping to get some more of my older film images scanned. I hope to have something new up by the end of the week.

Happy Thanksgiving

Just a few images that make me think Thanksgiving. Actually the first image makes me think harvest and isn't it the harvest that the Pilgrims were truly thankful for that first Thanksgiving. Have a blessed weekend and remember all that you should be thankful for.

The snow glistening in the sunlight
The landscape a blanket of white



The brilliant blue illuminating the sky
The sporadic bursts of color diversified



The vibrant yellow contrasted against dark green
The light and shadows a sight to be seen



Overwhelmed by the beauty
That lies all around me



But what I don't understand
As I survey the beauty of the the land
How someone can say there is no God.

-CRW

Here is a photo from Sleeping Bear Dunes near Empire, MI. I was there a little over three years ago and would love to go back again. I visited here on a day trip. I was out to capture images of Michigan's Covered Bridges. I remember when I arrived at the Pierce Stocking Bridge I was a bit underwhelmed. I took pictures anyway and I am glad that I did because I now really like the images that I have of this bridge. Feeling a bit let down, I decided to drive the circle route through the park. And boy I was sure glad I did. I was able to see an area of Lake Michigan that I had never seen before and it was close to sunset, about an hour away at most. The scenic outlooks along the trail were well worth the stop. The nice thing about being there at the beginning of November was not a lot of tourist traffic as I am sure they are bustling in the summer months. I was able to just stop on the side of the road if I saw something that caught my eye. Have a wonderful weekend. I am going to try and get a couple of auto posts set up for this next week. I have a busy week ahead of me and I'm not even cooking a big holiday meal. I'm maybe making a side dish but nothing else. Have a blessed Thanksgiving. Remember to be grateful for what you have now because you never know what the future holds.

The Burning Bush

Okay so I didn't actually take this picture in the last couple of days. This is from a few years ago, I think 2003. It is on the grounds of Dow Gardens in Midland. I used to love visiting there until I found The Chippewa Nature Center. The reason I like the nature center better is two-fold. One being that the nature center is free and come on who doesn't like free stuff and two it is nature in its finest not cultivated by man. I still enjoy Dow Gardens just not as often as I once did.

I had hoped to actually go out and get some snow pictures since the snowfall we received stuck around pretty well until late this afternoon. It is still here but the sun has had an effect. Sadly, yesterday I had a migraine headache and they tend to put down for two to three days. The first day being the headache and the second and third day recovering from the after affects of the headache. I hate this but it is a part of life that I must endure. Headaches, migraines in particular, seem to be a hereditary thing in my family. My granny had them, my mom and her siblings have them, and most of my cousins along with myself experience them. I say my granny had them because she rarely if ever gets them now not because she has passed. She has been forbidden to die. I depend on her to much for emotional and moral support. She is my confidant. I can tell her anything without feeling judged or belittle, not that I think anyone else in my family would do this I have just never been able to talk to other family members quite like I can my granny. When I went away to college she was the one I typically called when I needed to talk. She also was the closest to me geographically, only a short five hours away; whereas the rest of my family was twelve hours away. Knowing she was close enough to come if I really needed her meant the world to me. I have many fond memories of my granny and my grandpa. I need to sit and write these out as a treasure for my children if nothing else. Because when the time comes my boys will already have a strong bond with both of them and I am so grateful to see this interaction. Many people sometimes don't even have the opportunity to really know their grandparents and here my boys are getting to know their great-grandparents. We truly are blessed.

Hope you have a great Wednesday.

Renaissance Reminiscing

These are a few images that I meant to post from the Michigan Renaissance Festival. I hope to get out in the next day or two and take some snow images if the snowfall we just received today sticks around. I know I have complained about the cold and I don't like to be cold but I really do love the beauty of the snow. I love that fresh snowfall glistening in the sun look. It is once the snowplows take over and give that gray cast that I hate. But the beauty of the snow is a sight all its own. In my opinion, there is nothing quite like it.

Autumn Leaves

These first three images were taken within a minute. They were all taken on October 17 at 11:01am. I was dumbfounded looking at the images because I do not remember seeing a plane go by overhead. It just goes to show that a lot can change in a very short time.




This last image is from the same day about two minutes later. It is of a different tree. I actually had no clue what this image would come out like when taking it. I reached my arm out the car window and blindly took a picture of the tree that was overhead. Before you freak out, we were parked in my in-laws driveway for all of these images. We were dropping off Chloe, our Cocker Spaniel, before we went on our overnight getaway to the Jollay Apple Orchard in Coloma, MI.


To view more SKY WATCH photos click the link on my side bar.

Flowers - finishing up

Here are some of the flower images that were overlooked over the last few months of posting. I really am pushing this warm thoughts thing. So far, it is not working. Some of these images have similar ones posted already but these are other pictures that I like just as well.

Daisy Fleabane

Daisy Fleabane

Okay I am trying to convince myself it is not really cold outside. I am not ready for the cold. My hormones have returned to normal, I am now freezing and it isn't even near to being the coldest weather that we will see in my neck of the woods. The last two winters haven't been to bad. I haven't been to cold. But they also came just after giving birth to my children. I was hoping that I wouldn't go back to the freezing feeling that I have always had. My house is set at 74 degrees and I am still cold. The only reason my temperature is set this high is because of my boys. Their room is the farthest from the furnace and hence it stays colder than the rest of the house. Since neither of the sleeps with covers yet the only way to ensure they are warm is to keep the heat a little higher than I would like. I definitely am not looking forward to my heating bills this winter. Have a pleasant Wednesday.

Sun-drenched and beautiful. These stargazer lilies are my favorite flower all together. This is the flower that was abundant at my Great Aunt Mary's funeral. Of course, they were fake but I brought home four of them and made a wreath with them. This wreath is hung by my front door so I see it every time I go out my door. My Aunt Mary was truly a great woman. She is my Granny's oldest sister. Shortly after my granny was born, their mother became very ill. They are not really sure what she died from but it is believed that she had cancer (this was the conclusion of Aunt Mary years later after caring for her mother-in-law in the last stages of cancer.) Now my granny really has no real recollections of her mother. She died when my granny was about two years old. My Aunt Mary was essentially my granny's mother. Aunt Mary was twelve years older than my granny. Aunt Mary was a very special lady to me because in my mind I don't know that my granny would have survived had Aunt Mary not taken on that role, seeing as how their mother was in and out of the hospital and not well during the time that she had with my granny. I loved every moment that I spent with my Aunt Mary and have wonderful memories of her telling stories about antics of my granny. I also loved to hear her tell the story of when she left the family to marry Uncle Lee, another great person in my life. Both of these people are sorely missed by all of the family but they are well remembered.

Wow, I had no idea that was in me. Not at all what I had planned to post about but obviously it needed saying. Maybe next time I'll write about how my granny tried to chop off my Great Aunt Vivian's nose. Got ya wondering now, don't I?

Weathered and Worn

Finally my life is in a slow down even if it is only for two weeks. Between birthdays and Halloween, I have barely had time to breath. I have had a birthday party for the past three weekends and two of them were for my own two little boys, next year I will be doing one large celebration but since this was Eli's first birthday I decided he should have his own special day. I will be finishing up my images that were somehow overlooked as well as preparing some of the images that I was able to take in all of my busy-ness. Hope all had a good weekend.

The Struggle

One of my first attempts to photograph other bugs besides the really cute ones. These ants were either fighting over something or helping each other out. I love the flowers they were on because of the porcelain look the flowers had. I posted an image of the flowers a while back.

For more critter images click the camera critters link on my side bar.

Caterpillar

UPDATE: I found out with a bit of help from my friend over at Nature in the Ozarks, that this little guy is an American Dagger Moth. Marvin suggested that I submit the photo to the BugGuide, which I did and in a short time I had help with identifying this little guy. Thanks Marvin.



This little guy was found at our church picnic a few months ago. I tried to tell the kids to leave him be but you know how kids can be. I did make sure that he was returned to the area that he was found in though. I hope that he made it to fulfill his life cycle to become a butterfly or moth, whatever he may be.

Chicory

Chicory

Faux Footprints

Is it just me or does this look like a footprint of sorts? When I look at it I see a footprint with a small red leaf laying on top. Maybe I'm weird but that is what I see.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I have always loved seeing rainbows. I don't see as many as I used to, but I realize now that it isn't because there are fewer rainbows, it is because I don't have as much free time as I did when I was a child. It is definitely a situation of life getting in the way. As you get older you don't always have the ability to take the time to enjoy the simple things in life. I think if we all just slowed down and appreciated these simple things more we would all be more happy in life. The beauty of God's creation is always a relaxing experience to me, as I marvel at all that His hand has made.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone. While I have mixed feelings about this holiday, I do small festivities more of a harvest celebration. I have heard and understand both sides of the argument. It's my fault because I can always look at both sides of a situation and know where each is coming from. Don't get me wrong though, just because I can see both sides does not mean that I sway in my beliefs, I know what I believe and there is little that one can do short of proving me completely wrong to convince me otherwise. Yeah I know I'm a complex person.

Over the next week I will be posting some of the photos that I wanted to post but they just didn't seem to make it at the time or something else came up. Okay I'll admit it most of them I just plain forgot to post. Also I will be pulling from both my recent archives and some of my older archives that well I just couldn't post because I didn't have a blog yet.

Have a great weekend.

Final Touches

As we were leaving the Augusta Covered Bridge area, well I had to use the bathroom. On my way over to the restrooms I noticed this log building. If you notice the sign says "Maple Manor". Judging by this sign and the smoke stack, I am assuming they have demonstrations, typically during the months of February and March in Michigan, on how maple syrup is made.

Also out on display was this wonderful logging wheel. The size of it is unbelievable. It is close to the size of the cabin. For other pictures to help put the size in perspective visit my other blog.

This image below is of a gnarly old tree. I highly suggest that you enlarge this image to truly see all of the bumps and such.

The following are some wood carvings done in some tree trunks. I was in awe of the tiny details that the put in the carving. I believe these are actually done with a chainsaw but I do not know this for sure so please don't quote me on that.

Details, Details, Details

Here is some of the details that might have been missed by many other passersby. The first image is some type of fungus growing on the tree trunk. And in the second image of the leaf, I just was instantly drawn into the beautiful colors this little leaf held in it. Although I'm sure they quickly faded as it lay there on the ground.

Berries near the Augusta Covered Bridge

Here are some of the berries that I saw along the short stretch of the trail that we walked that day out at the Augusta Covered Bridge.

Views around the Augusta Covered Bridge

Here are a few views from right around the bridge. The first image is through one of the windows looking to the south. The second image is just northeast of the bridge looking to the west. The third image is standing just west of the bridge looking to the north. And the last image is another image of the bridge looking to the south. I was unable to get any images of the bridge from the south side. I didn't have the right shoes and the ground was soft and muddy so I didn't attempt to go off of onto any unbeaten path. I did use a barely used trail for my images of the north side. You could tell that a path was there but it was seldom used. Next time I will be more prepared for this and hopefully get some other pictures that I can already see in my head.